Katy's Photo Archive. Japan 2002 - Random Tokyo Sights

My 32nd floor Hotel View of Shinjuku

Off the Beaten Paths

Japanese Residential Streets

Below: Japanese home garden

Left: Man riding a moped

Center: Old building & Coke machine

Right: Bar Something & child's bike

Sample (Sampuru) Food Store

Sample Food - a staple of Japanese Restaurants. I found 2 stores selling "sampuru" supply along Koppabashi Street in Asakusa. Needless to say, I had to buy some as souvenir. These samples do not come cheap. A piece of sample tuna costs a minimum of ¥750 plus 5% tax. This transalates to ~$6 using an exchange rate of ¥131 to $1. Yes indeed. It is less expensive to eat 3 entire tuna rolls than it is to buy 1 piece of sample tuna sushi.

Andy - Having fun with Sample food

Food and Beverage Ticket Machines - generally found outside inexpensive restaurants lined along the streets of Tokyo, inside restaurants and in the larger subway/train stations.

You would decide what you want to eat and deposit the amount of money needed. A ticket will be printed and dispensed. Once you have your meal or drink ticket, bring it to the food counter and hand it to the server. Voila! You wait for your food and chow it down amidst a zillion other harried-looking Japanese businessmen and women.

No minimum wage cashiers required.

Seen along the Street of Asakusa